Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for School Education, Early Childhood and Youth. Will the minister inform the House of the response to the passage of the Australian Education Bill through the House yesterday? What are the next steps in making our nation's schools smarter and fairer?

Peter Garrett (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Minister for School Education, Early Childhood and Youth) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Shortland for her question. I know how important it is to her that schools and students in her electorate are well supported.

The commitment from the government to education has been on full display in these last two weeks in parliament. Last week we released analysis of how the National Plan for School Improvement—described as a game changer by Indigenous academic Marcia Langton, whom many people here will know—will be transformative for Indigenous students in this country. We know how the national plan will deliver investment in schools across the regions, reinforced so clearly when the New South Wales education minister came into the parliament to brief National Party colleagues, in his words, that the Gonski reforms are 'a deal too good to ignore'. We have also announced additional support for special schools over the next six years, and yesterday we had a signally important moment when the House of Representatives and the parliament considered and enshrined a fairer, needs based funding system in legislation, in the Australian Education Bill, which passed through this House.

Incidentally, it passed through this House without amendment, so it has been a proud record for the government—not such a good record for the shadow minister, who is on the record as wanting to sack one in seven teachers, who could not convince the parliament to oppose this bill and who ended up at the dispatch box ranting and raving whilst in the meantime we had over 5,000 primary school leaders rejecting unequivocally the position put by the opposition in relation to us implementing a new fairer funding model.

The only person I can think of who has had a worse two weeks in education than the member for Sturt is the Queensland Premier. The Queensland Premier went on Sky talking about alleged secret meetings that were held by officials—I don't know—but forgot to mention that Commonwealth officials have met with Queensland officials 56 times, and not a single one of those meetings was a secret meeting; I have to break it to those opposite. Today we read that Premier Newman is preparing a list to sell off schools in his state. We already know that they have cut education in the state. Finally, he capped off his week by taking the ridiculous step of writing to Queensland senators, saying, 'Vote against the billions of dollars that would go to investment in Queensland schools.' He asked them to vote against the reforms that will improve the results of Queensland students, to vote against the most marginalised students in his state receiving the support that we would be providing, with him, if they signed up to the National Plan for School Improvement.

The Queensland Premier has the power to do something positive for his state, as do other premiers. Sign up to the National Plan for School Improvement so we have better schools for all Australians.